Pain and Joy
by skak45
Summary: Pantheon and Leona reunite after 10 years.


Pantheon was familiar to pain. As a younge boy he was trained to either block it out or use it as fuel in battle. There was one pain however, that he never could block out, or use. Therefor, he choose to ignore it. To deny it existed. It was something that otherwise would have been weakness and Pantheon dispised weakness. He numbed himself to the pain and continued on, marching forward like a good soldier. Numb and uncaring until that day.  
-

Even though he had not seen her in years, Pantheon recognized her the moment she stepped onto the stage. The summoner presiding over the new champion announcement had began to speak, but he already who he was looking at. Leona, the suns chosen, the girl who he had stood with one decade ago and the one that had left his heart bleeding when she left.  
'No,' he thought 'I do not bleed or hurt. I do not need this woman.' But even as he willed himself into his mental walls, his eyes looked onto he stage and he found her gaze locked into his. She looked like she wanted to say something, but he quickly averted his gaze. As her showcase was over she hurried of the stage and to Pantheons great displeasure, began to make her way twords him. Clicking his mind back into millitary mode, he let his escape and evasion training take over as he slipped into the crowed ex auditorium. By the time Leona got to where he had been sitting, there was no trace of hr childhood friend.  
-

And so it continued, in this manner for sometime. Pantheon would avoid Leona whenever possible, taking alternate paths, mumbulling something about training whenever she got close enough to try and talk. Even during matches when they were summoned together, he would remain mute for the whole match, save for relaying tactical information. He wasn't willing to let any trace of perceived weakness into his life.  
-_-

And it was during this time when the Institue of War when into its annual summer hiatus. No matches were held, and the champions were all given a well deserved break. While Pantheon lived for he fight he was able to find other things that could keep his blood lust satisfied. During the sabattical he found that the summoners rift was a great place to camp and hunt. He would clear out the Elder Lizard camp, set up a bed and lean-to and go kill wolves for dinner. Setting his meat over the fire to roast, he set down his spear and sheild within arms reach leaned back against a tree trunk. Whith his eyes closes he could hear the flow of the river, the crickets and the sound of foot steps though the grass.  
" Who's there ? " he demanded as he lifted his spear to a throwing position.  
"It's just me." Said a gentle voice, as Leona walked out of the grass, hand up showing she meant no harm. Instead of her ususal battle armor, she was warring her pool side clothes, probably becuase they were more comfortable in the warm weather.  
'Ah frack' he thought lowering his spear. Mind racing, he decided his best chance of getting away was to use his jump to get some distance and just leave.  
As if she had read his mind, Leona suddenly began to say " if you try to jump ill stun you." Wow, her voice has changed, he thought a bit taken back by the strong, yet feminine quality of her voice.  
" What do you want?" Pantheon replied, trying to remain as emotionally detached as possible.  
"What do I want? Pantheon, I haven seen you in ten years. I've been here for a month and all you do is avoid me. All I want to do is talk to my friend." She said. The emotions of her voices were a mess. Pantheon could sense her sadness, fear, and anger. He was feeling empathy and he didn't like it.  
" I have no time nor desire for that" he lied. Seeking to leave this area and suppress these feeling he gathered up his shield and spear, turned his back and began walking away. However, no sooner had he turned the corner when a glimps of light caught his eye. Turning, he saw the shining image of Leona's Zenith Blade flying onto himself. ' frack, she must have hidden her weapons in the bush' he thought, as he saw her ridding along the light stream of her blade. She landed right ontop of him knocking him on his back. She quickly followed up by smashing his face with her sun charged sheild, binding his arms with solar energy.  
" Get the frack off me" he yelled angrily as he struggled against the restraints.  
"Pantheon, what happened to you? Why are you pushing me away? What happens to us?" She pleaded as she pushed him down, unwilling to let him go without a straight answer.  
" Get off," he yelled again " I got rid of "us". It was weakness. It made me reliant on something. I hate weakness. I. hate. you. " as those words left his mouth, he looked up and saw her face. No longer did it have any anger or irritation in it. All he saw was shock and sadness as the tears formed in her eyes. He realized that he had just destroyed the most important thing she had. Even as he chains of sun light disappeared, Pantheon didn't move to block her incoming hand. Unlike most girls, Leona didn't slap, she punched, hard. As her fist collided with his jaw, he realized that he deserved this and a lot more. The impact sent him smashing back to the jungle floor as Leona walked out of his sight.  
" I'm such an idiot" he said, spitting out a tooth she had knocked loose.  
"Leona"he cried out as he picked himself and began to search for her.  
Rushing though the jungle he began to realize just how selfish he had been. Pantheon hadn't seen how much it must have hurt for her to leave and how crushed she must have been after ten years of seperation, to have gotten the cold shoulder. He realized that he needed her. Crashing out of the brush and onto the river bank. He caught a glimpse of yellow on the far bank. Leona was standing on a tall rock formation overlooking the deepest part of the river. From the way we was walking to the edge, there was no doubt about it, she was going to jump.  
" Oh no you don't" he said as he began charging his mana for a jump. He wasn't going to lose her another time.

" You thought I was going to drown myself ? " Leona said as she rubbed alcohol onto a nasty cut on Pantheons forhead. " I like to dive off that rock all the time. It helps me clear my mind." Smilling at how her friend had jumped half way across Summoners Rift to catch her mid fall and ended up smashing himself into the landing, finished cleaning out the cut.  
"You used to not be able to swim" he said, embarrassed as she held his face in her hands.  
" Well I guess we both have changed in ten years." The solari said as she bandaged the wound and took her hands off of him.  
A silence settled as they sat next to each other in Pantheons camp. As the fire cracked in front of them Pantheon stole a quick glance at his old friend. Even in the odd lighting of the flames he realized she was simply beautiful.  
The scrawny teen girl he had known before had mature into something amazing. She wasn't as skinny nor was her outfit revealing like some of the othr champions in the league, but she had a well built, very calm character about her.  
" Hey Leona," Pantheon began. He was so ashamed of what he had said earlier that she turned to face him, he just looked at his feet. " I'm sorry, about what I said earlier. I didn't mean I word I said. When they found out you were a solari and took you from the village, it hurt me like nothing before. I couldn't do anything with it, or about it so I just pretended it didn't. I've been telling myself for ten years that you were a weakness and that I wasn't and that caring about you made me weak." Tears began to fall to the ground as he let down his walls and poured out a decade of emotions in one tsunami. "The truth is I need you. You're a part of who I am. I know I've been a jerk for this past month but could you give me a second chance." He didn't want to look up, but he didn't need to. He felt two arms wrap around his shoulders as Leona embraced him. As she nestled her head next to his, she called him, not by his warrior name but by the name she had called him when they were playing at 10 years old "Marcus" she sobbed as she cried tears of happieness into his shoulder "you don't even need to ask for that. I know that you care and I'll always be there for you." In that moment and that night, Pantheon and Leona were once again friends, and on the road to become much more. The past was behind them, the future they would face together. However, what meant the most to them was the now, and being in each other's lives was the true preasent.

Epilogue

A few years later

"You wake up to early" groaned Pantheon as Leona shifted in thier bed.  
"I use sun magic, it's just one of the side effects" she said as she snuggled into his arms. " besides it keeps your lazy butt from sleeping all day."  
The both laughed as they embraced each other. A friendship had grown into something amazing as they now shared life with each other and with...  
" Dad" yelled thier boy's voice as the ten year old came crashing onto Pantheons back " you promised me you take me to see Auntie Irelia's match today"  
"That's right Max." He said play wreasing him off his back "but that's not till after lunch. So I'll start making some breakfast and you can get your chores done. Sound good?"  
"Awsome!" Said the little boy as he sped out the door.  
And as Pantheon kissed his wife and went down stairs to bake, he thought to himself, life is good.


End file.
